Universal sign



A. F. BRANDENBURG. UNIVERSAL S|GN." APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19. 1915 RENEWED JULY 3l,1919- 1,334,591 Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

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UNIVERSAL SIGN. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19, 1915. IRENEWED'JULY 31, 1919.

1,334,591 Patented Mar. 1920.

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llhlllTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT IE. IBBANDENBURG, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HARRY E. PALMER, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

UNIVERSAL SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 19, 1915, Serial No. 35,146. Renewed July 31, 1819. Serial No. 314,423.

o all re/tom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT F. BRANDEN- sure, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Universal Sign, of which the followlug a specification.

Broadly speaking my invention consists of a base, detachable characters, such as letters of the alphabet, figures, or other symbols, laid upon or fastened to the base, and a transparent cover which confines but exposes the characters. The cover is preferably made of wire gauze which is both transparent and non-reflecting, the latter being a particularly valuable characteristic as it will not reflect the light and render the characters invisible as glass is liable to do. The gauze softens the effect and produces a sort of fusion of the characters into the back ground on which they lie, and practically conceals their superimposition. It also tends to grip and hold the characters in place, and this tendency may he supplemented by attaching to the faces of the characters one or more small patches of fabric, such as felt or velvet. Or the characters may be made entirely of fabric, paper, or any substance desired to produce a specific effect.

In order to render the sign available as a. night and day sign the base may be transparent and lights placed behind it. For this transparent base gauze is preferable. The gauze base is covered by a back ground of cloth, paper or other suitable material and it may he of any desired color and degree of transparency. The characters may be opaque, metal if desired, or more or less transparent. The removable transparent background and detachable letters afford opportunity for almost endless variety of color effect, which may be further varied by placing different colored lights behind the sign.

Portability is another desirable quality of my sign. Its structure being essentially light it may be hung in convenient places, much as ordinary cardboard signs are; it may be set in show windows or hangout of doors. A suitable support may be provided for the sign, or it may be placed as the front of a box containing lights to illuminate it at night. Two or more signs may be mounted on a single support.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of my sign.

Fig. 2 is a section through one embodi ment of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a similar section through another embodiment thereof, and;

Fig. 4: is a similar section through a third embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a plan-view.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a modified form.

Fig. 8 is a detail showing the manner of attaching the background.

Figs. 9 and 10 show characters and their construction.

Fig. 11 shows a plurality of signs sembled.

12 shows a modified form of cover, and;

Fig. 13 shows a detail of construction used in Fig. 12.

Fig. 1 1 shows a modified construction.

Similar numerals indicate like parts in all of the views.

The sign shown in section in Fig. 2 coinprises a base and gauze cover 26, with characters 27 confined between them. The base is preferably curved as shown in Fig. 5, while the cover is boundeclby a flexible resilient frame 28 which when forced to conform to the curvature of the base causes the gauze to press against the characters and clamp them between the cover and base.

The end of the base is provided with a grooved clcat 29 to receive the tongue 30 ou the end of the cover, and the other end of the cover held down to the base by a bail 31. The sign shown in Fig. 3 is the same as that in Fig. 2 save that a background is laid over the base. before the characters are placed. This background, which is de 'tachable, may be of any suitable material:

paper, cloth fabric, or even metal may be used.

In Fig. 1- the base and cover are both gauze. The gauze base 3% is carried by a frame which is preferably rigid and curved like/the base 25. The cover 26 is the same as the cover in Figs. 2 and 3 and it may be attached in the same manner. By using a background of suitable "ransparencv this may be used as an illuminated sign and it is here shown forming the front of an illuminated box 36,to which it is attached by hooks 37 and spring clips 38. The background may be secured. to the base fective. The unevenness of the surface of the gauze cover contributes to holding the characters in. place, particularly when they are composed of material into which the. gauze can slnk. Characters composed of materials'having surfaces not adapted to cooperate with the gauze may have small fabric patches 45 secured to their faces (see Fig. 9), having a pile into which the gauze will sink. When the base is fixed in a vertical position the characters may have points 46 projecting from their backs which can be pushed through the background and base to hold the characters in place until the cover is put on. p The non-transparent base shownin Figs. 2 and 3 may be composed of material into which the points 46 can be pressed.

. ;In Fig. 11 a plurality of signs is attached to a single support 50, which may or may not be an illuminating box, as desired. By attaching't-hese signs independently they may be taken down one at a time and their contents changed, or they may be replaced by others. l/Vhile the segmental form shown in Figs. 1 to 5 is preferred, thesign may be convex as in Figs. 6 and 7, in which the gauze base 65, of convex form, is carried by aframe 66, while the gauze cover, also convex, is carried by a frame 68. These frames are clamped together by any suitable means after the characters are in place. Or in the segmental type conditions may be reversed. The cover being straight and rigidand the base curved but flexible,,so as to be made straight when clamped to the straight cover. This is illustrated in Fig. 14 where the curved flexible base enters a groove in the rigid cover 66-and is clamped to the cover at the other end by the bail 31. It is not to be understood, however, that curvature of either. member is essential. -Neither is it to be understood that I limit myself to other details 'of construction shown. Various modifications are possible within the scope of my invention. For example, instead of gauze a succession'of parallel wires 60 may be used in the cover as in Fig. 12 and these wires may attach to spring 61 (see Fig. 13) whereby they will be kept taut, the springs being attached to a plate 62 in the end of the frame 63, this frame corresponding to the frame 28. The term"gauze is not limited to wire gauze as other kinds of gauze may be used. l

' Practically unlimited opportunity is afforded for artistic arrangement of the characters: they may be arranged in either straight or curved lines, or in any other order desired. To facilitate arranging them faint lines may be provided on the background, which, though sufliciently visible for this purpose, will be invisible when the cover is in place. It is possible to provide several sets of lines on the same backgrgund; for example, horizontal, vertical, arcual, etc. The gauze base lends itself readily to various arrangements of characters having the points 46 projecting from their backs.

V hat I claim is as follows:

1. In a sign, a curved base, a transparent integral cover therefor having suflicient flexibility to permit its conformity to the curvature of the base, means for forcing the cover to conform to said curvature, and detachable characters confined between said cover and base.

2. In a sign, a base and a transparent nonreflecting integral cover therefor, one of which is rigid and the other flexible, the flexible member being of. different form from the rigid on so that when flexed to conform thereto it will exert pressure thereagainst, means for clamping said base and cover together, and detachable characters confined therebetween.

3. In a sign, a base, a gauze cover therefor, and detachable cha acters confined between the base and cover, said characters having a pile on their faces into which the gauze sinks.

at. In a sign, a base composed of gauze, a background thereover, characters lying on the background and a gauze cover over said characters.

5. In a sign, a transparent base, a removable translucent background covering the base, detachable characters on the background, and a flexible transparent cover pressed against said clmracters and holding them in place on the background.

6. In a sign, av base, detm-hable charactew thereon and a flexible cover therefor, the portion which covers the characters being composed of gauze, said base and cover ha ing different forms, thereby requiring flexnre of the cover to enable it to conform to the base.

7. In a sign, a gauze base and a gauze cover, said base and cover being of different form so as to require at least one of them to yield in order that they may have the same form; means for clamping them together so that they will have the same form, and removable characters between them, held in place by the pressure produced by clamping them together.

ALBERT F. BRANDENBURG. 

